[NATURAL HISTORY]. GREW, Nehemiah (1641-1712). The Anatomy of Vegetables Begun. With a general account of Vegetation Founded theron. London: for Spencer Hickman, 1672. 

8vo (155 x 92 mm). 3 folding engraved plates. (Small hole on leaf facing the title affecting a few letters repaired and supplied in pen facsimile, some light browning or offsetting). Contemporary blind-ruled calf (rebacked preserving a portion of the original spine). Provenance: James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps (1820-1899), Shakespeare collector (bookplate).

FIRST EDITION OF GREW'S FIRST BOOK, which contains his accurate observations of the structures of wood, bark and roots. "His most important contribution to botany was his belief that the flower contains the sexual organ of a plant. He distinguished the calyx, stamens and pistils, and that the anthers scatter pollen" (Dibner). In The Anatomy of Vegetables, Grew introduced the term "parenchyma." THE HALLIWELL-PHILLIPPS COPY. Dibner Heralds 21; ESTC R30321; ; Henrey 163 and pp. 135-138; Norman 944; Wellcome III, p.164; Wing G-1946.

Property from the Collection of Norman and Florence Blitch

This lot is located in Chicago.